There are only a few days left to register for the Discraft Ace Race, to be held Sunday, Sept. 8th at 9:00 AM at Hiestand Park. We'll be done in plenty of time to not only watch the Packers game at 3:25, but also most of the early afternoon NFL games. Deadline for registration is this Sunday, August 25th, so we can order players packs on the 26th. At this point, your best bet to get registered in time is to visit Glide Disc Golf this weekend and sign up.

The Mad City Open, presented by Ale Asylum & Glass Nickel Pizza Co., will be held this weekend, Saturday, August 17th and Sunday, August 18th. This PDGA sanctioned Super Tour (A-Tier) tournament is one of the premier disc golf events in the Midwest, and always draws a strong field of players from Wisconsin,neighboring states, and beyond. The tournament will once again be contested at Elver Park, Hiestand Park, and the Vallarta-Ast course at Token Creek County Park. All three courses are reserved for the tournament and are closed to public play both days, except that Elver and Hiestand will re-open after the completion of the morning round on Sunday, typically around 1:00 PM. If you’re not playing in, volunteering for, or spectating at the tournament, please use these times to visit our other area courses, such as the new Capital Springs course near Lake Farm County Park, Bird’s Ruins in Marshall, Kiwanis of Stoughton, Ripley Park in Cambridge, or Johnson Park in Maple Bluff.Spectators are welcome at all times, including for the “Final 9” at approximately 1:00 PM on Sunday on Holes 19-27 at Vallarta-Ast. We want to see a big crowd as the top four Open Division players compete for the championship.There are also plenty of volunteer opportunities. Anyone interested should contact the Tournament Director, Mike, at mike@glidediscgolf.com. Mad City Disc Golf is a sponsor of the tournament, and we’d love to get as many helping hands as we can.

We will be hosting the 2013 edition of the Discraft Ace Race on Sunday, September 8th at Hiestand Park. The cost, as always, is $25, and this year's player's pack includes two prototype drivers in Titanium plastic, as well as other goodies. For more information, including registration details, please see our Ace Race page. Deadline for registration is Sunday, August 25th. If you can't make our event, make sure to look at the bottom of the Ace Race page for dates and locations of other Ace Races in southern Wisconsin, including Marshall and Stoughton in Dane County.

The grand opening of the new Capital Springs disc golf course will be held at 10:30 AM on Friday, June 28th. This course will be part of the Dane County disc golf permit system, along with Vallarta-Ast at Token Creek.

Mad City Disc Golf will be at Ride the Drive this Sunday, June 2nd, from 10 AM to 2 PM. Look for us just south of the Lake Monona shoreline on John Nolen Dr, north of Olin Park.

We could also use some additional volunteer help at the event, whether it is for one hour or the entire time. We will begin setting up by 8:30, when the roads close. We will have all of the equipment (discs, portable baskets, minis, etc), but just need some more golfers out there to help show people what disc golf is all about. If you want to help and need more information, please send an email to madcitydiscgolf@gmail.com.

The disc golf course at Hiestand Park will be closed to public play this Sunday, May 26th. The course is reserved for the Vibram Birdie Bash tournament, presented by Glide Disc Golf. Online preregistration is closed, but as of this posting, there are still about a dozen spots left. Stop by or call Glide (608-285-5190) for more information about the Birdie Bash.

We are looking for volunteers to help install the baskets at Elver and Hiestand tomorrow morning (Wed May 1st). Please meet in the Elver parking lot at 9 AM. If we have enough volunteers to split into two groups, one group may go to Hiestand right away. Otherwise, we will install Elver first and then move over to Hiestand. The more people show up, the faster and easier it will go, and the quicker we can all play. If you haven't gotten your City of Madison disc golf permits yet, don't wait any longer!

FYI, the disc golf course at Ripley Park in Cambridge is now open for the season, as well.

Please note that the location is different from recent years, when it has been held at Hiestand. There will be a lot of great local disc golf events this year, and we want to spread them out to different courses.

The Kickoff also serves as the beginning of our club’s membership year. The cost to join or renew is $15 ($10 for juniors under age 16). You will receive a bag tag for joining, which can be used all year long for the MCDG Bag Tag Challenge. The initial distribution of bag tags will be based on the results of the random-draw doubles round ($5 additional fee) played at the Kickoff. Anyone who joins at the Kickoff but does not play doubles, or joins anytime after the Kickoff, will receive the lowest numbered tag remaining. The rest of your membership fee allows the club to put on events and promote disc golf and other flying disc sports in the greater Madison area.